Would a new (refurbished) iPhone 4 run iOS 7 better than a used one?

My phone is beginning to just give up...it takes 20+ seconds to open up the messages app and load it sometimes, 5-8 seconds to process a response from touching the screen (selecting an option or something) and I will type a couple sentences, wait about 10 seconds and then it will write out the entire thing on its own like a ghost -- in a nutshell, it's becoming painfully unresponsive.

If I fork over $150 for a replacement, do you guys think the performance will improve? I wish I could trade it up and pay some extra for a 4S.

Your best bet is starting from scratch and setting it up as a new phone like the previous guy suggested. That's the best way to see if it's hardware or software performance issues.

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Okay, thanks I'll try that out. But I feel like I'd inevitably have to restore my phone from a back up anyways...text logs and pictures most importantly I guess -- is there any way to just restore those things onto the phone?

I think it's definitely possible that a newer iPhone 4 will run iOS better than an older one. Couldn't the processor potentially degrade over time? It would be even worse if it was defective to begin with...

My phone is beginning to just give up...it takes 20+ seconds to open up the messages app and load it sometimes, 5-8 seconds to process a response from touching the screen (selecting an option or something) and I will type a couple sentences, wait about 10 seconds and then it will write out the entire thing on its own like a ghost -- in a nutshell, it's becoming painfully unresponsive.

If I fork over $150 for a replacement, do you guys think the performance will improve? I wish I could trade it up and pay some extra for a 4S.

My phone is beginning to just give up...it takes 20+ seconds to open up the messages app and load it sometimes, 5-8 seconds to process a response from touching the screen (selecting an option or something) and I will type a couple sentences, wait about 10 seconds and then it will write out the entire thing on its own like a ghost -- in a nutshell, it's becoming painfully unresponsive.

If I fork over $150 for a replacement, do you guys think the performance will improve? I wish I could trade it up and pay some extra for a 4S.

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Performance no, battery yes.

I would just restore as NEW, don't use backups to get it as fresh as possible.

My phone is beginning to just give up...it takes 20+ seconds to open up the messages app and load it sometimes, 5-8 seconds to process a response from touching the screen (selecting an option or something) and I will type a couple sentences, wait about 10 seconds and then it will write out the entire thing on its own like a ghost -- in a nutshell, it's becoming painfully unresponsive.

If I fork over $150 for a replacement, do you guys think the performance will improve? I wish I could trade it up and pay some extra for a 4S.

Click to expand...

No, performance wont be better. May be some placebo effect. May be some extra performance from doing a fresh setup and restore.

If you really HAVE to restore your backup, then restore the device via iTunes and set up as new. Then restore your backup. Afterwards go to settings>general>reset> reset all settings. You will have to run back through setting up your settings like you want , reapply wallpaper, and re-join any wifi networks. Otherwise your data and apps will remain. Also you may want to consider a DFU restore. You can web search that for the process. That is a low level firmware restore. Then follow same steps above for restore backup and reset all settings. Either of those will refresh the OS and perhaps help with your issue. A refurb unit wont help and will be a waste of $$.( unless you have some underlying hardware issue which I doubt)

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